The publications in this collection do
not reflect current scientific knowledge
or recommendations. These texts
represent the historic publishing
record of the Institute for Food and
Agricultural Sciences and should be
used only to trace the historic work of
the Institute and its staff. Current IFAS
research may be found on the
Electronic Data Information Source
(EDIS)
site maintained by the Florida
Cooperative Extension Service.

The lychee or litchi (Litchi' chinensis Sonn.), a subtropical
fruit tree believed to be native to southern China wheie it has
been cultivated for thousands of years, is reported as having
borne fruit at Sanford, Florida, as early as 1883 (16)' indicating
that this species was introduced successfully into the State dur-
ing the previous decade.
The U. S. Department of Agriculture and several individuals
since then have introduced a number of varieties of this oriental
fruit tree into Florida. While several commercial nurseries
continued to offer air-layered plants as well as seedling lychee
plants during the first quarter of this century, little effort was
made to plant them other than as specimen trees in estate or
yard plantings. Shortly over a decade ago a lychee tree was
still a rarity in Florida. At that time scattered mature speci-
men trees could be found in the southern half of peninsular
Florida, from Polk County to Dade County. During the past
decade an orchard containing about 1,000 trees was established
and brought into bearing near Laurel (Sarasota County). A
small number of orchard plantings have been made in southern
Florida since the end of World War II, varying in size from
1 acre to 20 acres.
Quantities of plants are being propagated by several commer-
cial nurseries at present to meet the expected increased demand,
due in large measure to the increasing interest aroused by numer-
ous popular articles that in recent years have been printed in
the local press, and also to the favorable reaction of the increased
numbers of people who have sampled the fresh fruit.
For many years large amounts of the dried fruits have been
shipped from China to the United States, where they have been
marketed as the "lychee, nut" principally in the larger cities
containing communities of Chinese-American inhabitants.
While the dried lychee "nut" can be described as having the
consistency and flavor of a raisin, the fresh fruit of a good
variety of lychee will rarely find a palate that will refrain from

'Italic figures in parentheses refer to Literature Cited, page 4.

Florida Agricultural Experiment Station

rating it as a choice fruit. The edible pulp has a distinctive
sweet, yet slightly subacid flavor and a pleasing fragrance.
Aside from the extensive plantings of this fruit tree in the
southeastern Chinese provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien, suc-
cessful lychee plantings have been established in northern India
and the Union of South Africa, and to a much less extent in
Hawaii, Burma, Madagascar, West Indies, Brazil, Honduras,
Japan and Australia. By far the largest recent world develop-
ment of lychee orchardry is in the eastern Transvaal Lowveld
of the Union of South Africa, where by 1947 approximately
40,000 trees had been established, one orchard alone containing
5,000 bearing trees.
While very little research work has been performed as yet
with the lychee here in Florida, this bulletin has been prepared
to provide a summary of information, based on preliminary
observations of the limited plantings in Florida. Included also
are observations on the limited cultural data reported from the
other subtropical regions where the lychee is cultivated.

Botany
The lychee is the most important of a number of fruit tree
species belonging to the family Sapindaceae which are native to
southern Asia. The Longan (Euphoria longan Lam.), a
close relative of the lychee, is also found in Florida. It resembles
the lychee in general aspect but the fruit quality of the various
seedlings found growing here is definitely inferior to that of a
choice lychee.
The soapberry (Sapindus saponaria L.) is one of the several
native species belonging to the Sapindaceae, none of which pro-
duce edible fruit.
Litchi chinensis is a medium to large, much-branched ever-
green tree reaching up to 40 feet or more in height and having
an approximately equal spread when grown in the open under
favorable conditions (Fig. 1).
The alternate pinnate leathery leaves have from two to eight
(usually five to seven) opposite or alternate leaflets which are
oblong-lanceolate or ovate-acuminate with a wedge-shaped base
from 21/. to 8 inches long and from 1 to 21/ inches wide, deep
green and glabrous above, glacous and glabrous or very nearly
so below. The lateral veins of the leaflets are somewhat obscure.
The petiolules are short (Q/2 to 1 inch in length). The tawny
puberulent inflorescence is a terminal erect or ascending branch-
Jig panicle varying in size up to a foot in length. The apetalous
greenish white flowers are small (1/12 to 1/8 inch wide), with 4-5
valvate, dentate sepals. The 6-10' stamens are exserted. The
ferruginous hairy ovary is two-celled with the stigma having
two recurved lobes. The fleshy disk is glabrous. Flowers are
either hermaphrodite, male or female on the same tree. Ob-
servations made in South Africa indicate that the ratio of male
and female flowers was found to differ from year to year on the
same tree. Mature fruits usually are solitary or occasionally
may be paired with an undeveloped fruit. The mature fruiting
panicles contain from several to several dozen fruits (Fig. 2).
The mature fruit, depending on variety, may be round to
ovate in shape and variable in size up to 11/ inches in diameter.
The thin leathery shell or pericarp of the ripe fruit is bright red
in color in most varieties, which presents a striking contrast to
the deep lustrous green foliar background. The pericarp is
rough in appearance, its surface being covered with more or less
angular or conical protuberances.
Beneath the shell (pericarp) and completely surrounding the

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t
P

s

iL5
~
~ ~
*- 77
r. %
~ /

The Lychee in Florida

seed is the edible aril or pulp which is translucent, pearl white
in color, and not unlike the consistency of a grape in texture.
The single, oblong, shiny, chestnut brown seed is attached at
the base to the aril. In many fruits the seed fails to develop
fully, the shrivelled abortive seed comprising but a small portion
of the whole fruit (Fig. 3).

I1

Fig. 3.-Lychee fruits cut to show arils and seeds

Analyses by Stahl (14) of lychee fruits obtained from trees in
Homestead were as follows:

The Common Name of Litchi Chinensis Sonn.
Groff (4), in his text on Litchi chinensis, prefers the use of
'lychee' for the English spelling of the common name, justifying
this form in preference to other spellings because, as he states,
"the word lychee will best convey the correct Cantonese-sound
of the word."
In northern China and wherever Mandarin is spoken, the
accepted pronunciation for the fruit is lee-chee. This pro-
nunciation is the one used exclusively in India. Elsewhere,
including the U. S. A., the Cantonese pronunciation is pre-
dominantly used.
Many other anglicized forms of spelling for the common name
have been proposed, including litchee, lichee, leechee, lici, laichi
and lychi, but none of these has been favorably received.
To date the spelling proposed and used by Groff has not met
with much approval outside the continental limits of the U. S. A.
Elsewhere, including India, South Africa, and Hawaii, the pre-
ferred spelling of the common name has been and is identical
with the botanical generic name, 'litchi.'
In all probability both forms, litchi and lychee, will continue in
use.

Varieties
Groff (4) describes and lists 49 varieties of the lychee from
the province of Kwangtung, China, and refers to Ts'ai Hsiang's
treatise on the lychee as saying there are a thousand varieties.
The varieties grown in India are not well established (8), while
the rapidly expanding commercial plantings in South Africa
are confined to but one variety, Mauritius (11).
To date in Florida the air-layered plants offered for sale by
the several nursery establishments have been almost exclusively
confined to one variety which has been sold under the name of
the 'Brewster' lychee. This variety was obtained from Hengwha
in the province of Fukien by the Rev. W. N. Brewster. Plants
sent in 1903 and 1906 were successfully grown to maturity in
Florida and thousands of plants have been propagated from these
original trees and their progeny. Until as recently as 1948
locally this variety continued to be known only as the 'Brewster'
lychee. At the suggestion of Groff, Lai-Yung Li and Chu-Ying
Chou (6, 10) visited Hengwha, the source locality of the so-called
Brewster, and after studying the varieties of lychee found there

Florida Agricultural Experiment Station

The Common Name of Litchi Chinensis Sonn.
Groff (4), in his text on Litchi chinensis, prefers the use of
'lychee' for the English spelling of the common name, justifying
this form in preference to other spellings because, as he states,
"the word lychee will best convey the correct Cantonese-sound
of the word."
In northern China and wherever Mandarin is spoken, the
accepted pronunciation for the fruit is lee-chee. This pro-
nunciation is the one used exclusively in India. Elsewhere,
including the U. S. A., the Cantonese pronunciation is pre-
dominantly used.
Many other anglicized forms of spelling for the common name
have been proposed, including litchee, lichee, leechee, lici, laichi
and lychi, but none of these has been favorably received.
To date the spelling proposed and used by Groff has not met
with much approval outside the continental limits of the U. S. A.
Elsewhere, including India, South Africa, and Hawaii, the pre-
ferred spelling of the common name has been and is identical
with the botanical generic name, 'litchi.'
In all probability both forms, litchi and lychee, will continue in
use.

Varieties
Groff (4) describes and lists 49 varieties of the lychee from
the province of Kwangtung, China, and refers to Ts'ai Hsiang's
treatise on the lychee as saying there are a thousand varieties.
The varieties grown in India are not well established (8), while
the rapidly expanding commercial plantings in South Africa
are confined to but one variety, Mauritius (11).
To date in Florida the air-layered plants offered for sale by
the several nursery establishments have been almost exclusively
confined to one variety which has been sold under the name of
the 'Brewster' lychee. This variety was obtained from Hengwha
in the province of Fukien by the Rev. W. N. Brewster. Plants
sent in 1903 and 1906 were successfully grown to maturity in
Florida and thousands of plants have been propagated from these
original trees and their progeny. Until as recently as 1948
locally this variety continued to be known only as the 'Brewster'
lychee. At the suggestion of Groff, Lai-Yung Li and Chu-Ying
Chou (6, 10) visited Hengwha, the source locality of the so-called
Brewster, and after studying the varieties of lychee found there

The Lychee in Florida

they are inclined to believe that the Brewster is none other than
the recognized Chinese variety Chen-tze.
Groff (4) states that Ts'ai Hsiang in his writings recorded as
many as 12 forms of this variety or class known in Hengwha as
the Chen Family Purple.
Since publication of the Chinese varietal designation of the
Brewster lychee, a commercial establishment in Florida is
marketing fruit of this variety under the name of 'Royal Chen.'
A number of seedling trees have produced fruit in Florida in
recent years. Several of these seedlings appear worthy of ob-
servation and may in time prove worthy of varietal designation.
While several other named Chinese varieties are to be found in
several South Florida plantings, usually as individual specimens,
it is too early at present to comment on their performance as
compared with the Brewster lychee.

Climatic Requirements
The lychee is best suited to subtropical conditions. It will
not thrive in regions where heavy frosts are experienced. With
reference to the Canton area, Groff (4, 5) states that the lychee
does best on the lower plains where the summer months are hot
and wet and the winter months are dry and cool.
At Homestead, Florida, temperatures of 280F. have been
experienced and no injury was observed on bearing lychee trees
that were not in active growth. Where exposed to temperatures
below 320F. young, tender growth may readily be killed. Young
air-layered trees have been killed back to near the ground level
and in some instances killed outright in unprotected field plant-
ings when temperatures of 29-300F. were experienced. At the
large lychee orchard at Laurel, Florida, it has been reported
that the temperature has been as low as 230F. for a few hours,
but by the use of wood fires in the orchard, no severe loss was
sustained. In general the limited observations made to date in
South Florida indicate that the mature lychee is hardier than the
mango and avocado but somewhat less hardy than the sweet
orange. Provision for frost protection similar to that used for
citrus, mango and avocado plantings should be made for lychee
plantings in Florida.
The lychee responds favorably to high temperatures during
the late spring and summer months when accompanied by
adequate moisture conditions. During this period the fruit

Florida Agricutlural Experiment Station

matures and makes a general vegetative growth. For floral
initiation the lychee apparently requires cool winters (with tem-
peratures above freezing but below 400F.). Groff states that
"periodic cold snaps in winter between 30 and 40'F. seem to
give the lychee the physiological changes necessary for fruit
bearing. It has long been noted that while the lychee may make
beautiful growth where winter temperatures are most pleasing
to humans the trees seldom bear." Marloth comments similarly,
"It was noted in Java and Mombassa by the writer that while
trees grew excellently under the tropical conditions existing on
the equator where winter and summer minimum temperatures
did not differ greatly it was only in occasional years that the
trees flowered and set fruit and then only in limited quantities."
As is interpreted with the mango, the lychee in all probability
requires a dormant period after the initiation and development
of vegetative growth subsequent to the previous fruit croppage.
Vegetative shoots produced in summer and early fall months
then have opportunity to build up a suitable carbohydrate level
which is assumed to be associated with the process of floral
differentiation and with floral initiation which occurs during the
latter part of winter or early spring.
Where the nutritional level is high and where abundant
moisture and hot temperatures prevail constantly, one vegetative
flush will be succeeded by a succession of vegetative flushes with-
out the appearance of a general bloom.
Vegetative growth of mature bearing trees during the winter
months is undesirable both because it lowers the chances of
flower formation and adds the risk of exposure to frost killing
of the young tender growth.
For optimum growth the lychee requires a fairly high moisture
supply. Marloth (11) states that "unless there is an annual
rainfall of at least 50 inches, effective and distributed throughout
the major portion of the year, irrigation must be practiced if
normal crops are to be obtained. Under no circumstances should
the lychee tree ever be stinted of water."
The average annual rainfall for the southern portion of Florida
is over 50 inches with peak precipitation occurring during the
summer months and April and November often having the lowest
monthly precipitation. While the annual average precipitation
appears sufficient, it should be stressed that the variation in
amount and seasonal precipitation from year to year may be
considerable. In some years drought conditions are experienced

The Lychee in Florida

during the summer months or heavy precipitation may occur
during the winter months.
While the normal decrease in rainfall (as well as temperature)
during the winter months is desirable from the standpoint of
floral development, the extension of dry conditions subsequent to
flowering and fruit set may reduce the fruit crop considerably,
even to the extent of crop failure.
Where adequate irrigation is provided the drought factor can
be controlled. However, if winter rains persist vegetative
growth may be experienced at the expense of flower and fruit
production for the season. Heavy rainfalls during the blossom
period may seriously curtail the amount of fruit set (11).
The relatively high humidity that prevails in Florida is desir-
able from the standpoint of lychee culture. Where b y humidity
is experienced it is common for the developing and ripening
lychee fruits to split open.
While the lychee can withstand occasional submersion that
would prove fatal to avocados and citrus, exposure to prolonged
submersion, particularly where stagnant water engulfs the major
portion of the feeding root area for a period of several weeks or
more, may prove fatal. Such exposure has killed several young
plantings on the flatwood soils of Palm Beach County.
Groff (5) observed that "trees planted along the dykes of the
Canton delta are subjected in flood season to submersion of the
root systems for 10 days to two weeks without serious injury.
But in appearance such trees seemed dwarfed in comparison with
those grown on higher, better drained soils."
The present opinion among lychee growers in Florida is that
good lychee culture requires the maintenance of a water table
level somewhere below 21/ feet from the soil surface.

Soil and Fertilizer Requirements
The lychee can be grown on a variety of soil types. In Hawaii
(9) the lychee has been grown chiefly on very heavy soils. Ob-
servations in South Africa led Marloth (11) to conclude that
"although a deep loamy soil is most preferred for the lychee, the
tree gives satisfactory performance on many soil types, provided
there is sufficient depth and they are well drained. Trees planted
on any acid soil make much more vigorous growth than those on
neutral or slightly alkaline soils. Saline soils are unsuited for
lychee growing."

Florida Agricultural Experiment Statton

According to Groff (4), Coville's lychee seedling pot culture
experiments indicated better growth in an acid medium (2 parts
peat to 1 part of clean sand) which was in part attributed to the
roots in this medium being covered with tubercles filled with
mycorrhizal fungi. Yet healthy vigorous plants have been ex-
amined which were completely devoid of any signs of these
mycorrhizal tubercles.
However, observations made in Bihar, India, indicate that the
best lychee plantings were those on soils having a lime content
of about 30 percent. Hayes (8), writing on the lychee in India,
concludes that it is probably capable of growing well on either
acid or basic soils.
On the moist sandy soils containing some organic matter along
the southwestern coast of Florida (Fort Myers-Bradenton) the
tree has made excellent growth. Young healthy plantings as
well as limited number of luxuriant mature trees can be found
growing on the sandy loam soils in the citrus sections of Polk
County. Several vigorous healthy young specimens were ob-
served growing on the muck soils of Palm Beach County.
Whether these will continue to grow to be healthy, productive
trees remains to be determined.
On the oolitic limestone soils of South Dade County healthy
fruiting specimen trees of the Brewster lychee have been grown.
The flowering and fruiting of these trees has been somewhat
erratic in nature.
To date very little research data has been reported on the
fertilizing of the lychee. No experimental data are available
on the nitrogen, phosphorus and potash requirements for this
plant.
In China manuring is commonly practiced, night soil being
used for this purpose. The usual practice is to manure the trees
every three months. On the naturally fertile soils of India the
trees are reported to thrive with little or no manure being used,
although the use of leaf mold or farmyard manure is recom-
mended. -
Marloth (11) recommends the use of cattle manure at the rate
of 50 pounds for young trees, up to 500 pounds for large mature
trees. This is spread over the whole area in which roots are
found, as well as under the tree up to the trunk.
In Florida both commercial fertilizer and manure have been
used for the feeding of lychees. It is believed that the lychee
generally should be fertilized more heavily than citrus. Some

The Lychee in Florida 15

growers are using one-third more than the amount applied
equivalent-sized citrus trees.
While experimental evidence is lacking as to the time of appli-
cation of fertilizer, it appears that a high level of nutrient supply
should be maintained during the fruit development period and
the period of active vegetative growth, namely, the spring and
summer months.
Evidence of minor element deficiencies has been observed and
corrected on Brewster lychee trees growing on the limestone soils
of South Dade County through the use of nutritional sprays of
copper, zinc and manganese, as well as the incorporation ofthree
units of magnesium oxide in the commercial fertilizer. A
formula of 4-7-5 is recommended, having 40 percent of the
nitrogen derived from organic sources.-
Three nutritional sprays per annum are recommended for small
trees, while one such spray per year should suffice for large
trees on limestone soils. No signs of chlorosis are evident on
Brewster lychee trees receiving this treatment.
The most vigorous growing Brewster air-layered trees ob-
served in Dade County are located in an estate planting just
south of Matheson Hammock Park. Several 14-year old trees
were set out in a white sand pothole averaging three feet in
depth and overlying a limestone formation. These trees are
sheltered by other adjacent tree plantings and are amply irri-
gated, as they are located on the edge of a winter vegetable
garden. The soil about the trees has received liberal amounts
of a commercial 4-7-5 fertilizer and during the summer, cowpeas
or other leguminous cover crops are grown, which in turn are
used to mulch the trees during the fall. These trees are 25 to 30
feet tall, having an average spread of about 30 feet. Highest
yields for these trees have been about 10 pounds of fruit per tree,
except that one tree during 1949 bore 50 pounds of fruit. The
sparse bearing may be in part attributable to the continual irriga-
tion and high nutritional level maintained throughout the late
fall and winter months.

Propagation
The lychee is propagated by vegetative means in all the
regions where it is grown for fruit production. Air layering
(marcotting, mossing off, gootee) is used almost exclusively by
all the commercial nurseries engaged in the propagation of the
lychee (1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13).

Florida Agricultural Experiment Station

While seedling trees can be grown fairly readily, because of
the uncertain quality of the fruit and the extremely long period
before the seedlings come into bearing, they are not advocated
for field planting except for experimental purposes. Seedling
trees often do not produce any fruit until they are 10 to 15 years
of age or older. Seeds when removed from the fruit should be
planted immediately, as they lose their viability in a matter of
days. Germination of fresh seed will occur within two to three
weeks after planting.
-While air layering may be accomplished with some degree of
success during the different seasons of the year, it is recom-
mended that the spring (or as soon as the danger of frost has
passed) is the most suitable period to undertake propagation.-
Layering during the summer months may expose the layers to
loss and damage due to the incidence of hurricanes. On the
other hand, losses due to freezing weather may be encountered
during the winter months.
In air-layering in Florida, branches approximately 1/2 inch in
diameter are usually selected, although branches somewhat
smaller, as well as larger in diameter up to 2 inches, can be
layered. These branches are girdled by removing a ring of bark
twice the diameter of the branch (approximately 1 inch) at
about 14 to 20 inches from the terminal end of the branch-Some
lychee propagators permit the girdled branches to remain un-
wrapped for two days after girdling, the belief being that the
exposure of the girdled branch area will encourage the formation
of callus tissue and reduce the danger of decay. *
Marloth (11) claims that better rooting is achieved where the
exposed area, particularly the cut edge of the remaining bark, is
treated with growth-promoting substances such as indoleacetic
acid.
Sphagnum moss (either the processed baled dry moss or local
fresh moss) should be soaked in water and the excess moisture
squeezed out with firm hand pressure. A full handful of moss
should be distributed slightly above and more below and en-
circling the girdled portion of the branch. The moss is then
wrapped in place with a sheet of plastic rubber (such as vinyl-
film). Application for patent has been made for the use of
rubber plastic sheets in the process of air-layering by Wm. R.
Grove (7), who first employed this technique. Sheets measur-
8" by 10" to 10" by 12" will be sufficient in size to wrap the moss
securely about the girdled branches. The edges of the plastic

, 16

The Lychee in Florida

sheet should be lapped or folded over to prevent the entrance or
loss of moisture, and the ends of the plastic sheet should be tied
securely above and below the moss contained within.' Tying
can be done with rubber grafting bands or wrapping twine, or
both. The principal advantage in using the plastic rubber
sheet for wrapping is that the .moisture content of the moss
remains adequate for the rooting of the girdled branch to take
place, thus eliminating the laborious task of supplying moisture to
the moss that would be necessary if the plastic wrap were not
employed. Bird damage to the plastic wrapping has been ex-
perienced. This can be avoided by tying a conical wrap of paper
above and completely encircling the plastic covered air-layer.
Within three to'four months after layering the newly formed
roots should be visible through the plastic wrap.
The air-layer should be removed by cutting the branch below:
the plastic wrap with sharp pruning shears. The rooted cut-
tings should then be planted in containers after the plastic
wraps are removed. For layered plants of the smaller stem
caliper (1/2 inch or less), No. 10' cans or six-quart tar-paper pots
should suffice. The potting soil should be rich in organic matter.
Where compost, muck or humus is unavailable the use of ground
peat is satisfactory. If wilting is noticed shortly after potting,
prune out a portion of the foliage.
After potting, the plants should be placed under half shade
and provided with wind protection. Do not permit the soil in
the containers to dry out. .
Monthly applications should be made of about 1/4 to 1/ ounce
of a 4-7-5 fertilizer or alternate applications of 4-7-5 with one
of nitrogenous tankage or well-rotted chicken manure.
If the air-layers are removed and potted late in summer, it
will require several months for their root systems to become well
established. It is recommended that they be grown in the con-
tainers until the beginning of the following rainy season. It is
also advisable to shift the larger and more vigorous growing
layered plants into larger containers (two- to three-gallon cans)
if they are to be carried over the winter in containers. This will
result in having larger, sturdier plants to set out in the field. It
is also desirable to expose the layered plants gradually to less
shaded conditions about a month prior to field planting to avoid
the effect of shock due to too great a contrast in light intensities.
Several references are made in lychee literature to the suc-
cessful employment of grafting and inarching in Hawaii and

Florida Agricultural Experiment Station

China. Experimental success has been reported with the graft-
ing, inarching and rooting of lychee cuttings in the United States
but as' yet none of these techniques has been adopted com-
mercially.
W. F. Cooper et al (3) described a method of rooting cuttings
of the Sweetcliff lychee by treating leafy cuttings with in-
doleacetic acid. Bark grafting has been reported by Higgins (9)
in Hawaii. W. T. Pope and Wm. B. Storey (12), also working in
Hawaii, were able to side tongue graft approximately one-year-
old seedlings.
Cobin (2) reported on a method of cleft grafting young seed-
ling lychees. The following technique for inarching young
lychee seedlings was employed at the Sub-Tropical Experiment
Station at Homestead, Florida, with excellent results. Seedling
lychee plants were grown in five- and six-inch pots using screened
sphagnum moss or a mixture of equal parts of screened sphag-
num and peat moss. These seedlings were fed weekly with a
well-balanced nutrient solution. Within 10 to 12 months these
seedlings developed a caliper of /4 to 3/8 inch. The moss-grown
seedlings were removed from the pots with the ball of moss
intact. The moss ball was thoroughly moistened and then
completely wrapped wih a sheet of plastic rubber. The low
weight and nature of the plastic wrapped moss-cultured seedling
permitted it to be easily secured to a correspondin-"small caliper
branch of the desired scion tree with ordinary wrapping twine.
Strips of the rubber plastic were wrapped over the rubber graft-
ing bands that secured the inarch, which was two to three inches
in length. The inarched plants were removed four weeks later.
The plastic wraps were removed and the plants were reset in
their original sized containers. There was no need of watering
during the month that the seedlings were attached to the scion
tree.

Planting
In the different parts of the world the spacing of lychee trees
varies considerably, from 20 feet apart along the dykes in China
to 40 feet apart on the rich soils of India, while in South Africa
(11) it is recommended that the trees should not be spaced closer
than 40 feet apart and under the best growing conditions a 50-
foot spacing is preferred.
Any portion of a mature lychee tree that does not have full
exposure to sunlight will have its fruiting potential reduced

The Lychee in Florida 19

considerably. In mixed plantings where mature lychees are to
be found growing in close proximity with other tree species, the
lychee assumes an erect habit and the limited fruit production of
these trees is solely borne on the uppermost exposed branches.
It is, therefore, desirable to know the size that a given variety
of lychee will attain at maturity in a given locality before the
most suitable spacing arrangement can be recommended. Such
information is not available at present for a number of locations
in the State where the lychee tree is currently being planted.
(Fig. 4.)
At Auburndale, a specimen tree (24 years old) of Brewster
lychee is reported to have developed a spread of about 42 feet.
A number of other vigorous specimen trees indicate similar vigor
in favorable locations in the Ridge district. In Dade County
measurements of a number of 14-year-old trees growing at dif-
ferent locations gave a variation in spread of from 15 to over 30
feet in diameter.
In Dade County a spacing arrangement of 25 to 35 feet, de-
pendent upon local soil conditions, should prove to be adequate,

while on the deeper sandy loam soils of the citrus Ridge district,
orchard plantings of lychee may be spaced 40 to 50 feet apart in
each direction with an additional tree planted in the center of
each square of four trees. This fifth tree should be either
removed or pruned back when its growth in time may crowd the
trees planted on the square.
The liberal use of compost and/or well rotted manure in the
planting hole when thoroughly mixed with the soil is a recom-
mended procedure when planting lychee trees. Marloth (11)
recommends that large planting holes at least 2/4 feet deep And
21/2 feet in diameter be prepared several months prior to planting
and that liberal amounts of compost or manure be thoroughly
incorporated into the soil with which the hole is again filled as a
means to induce early and rapid tree growth.
While lychee plants may be planted at almost any season of
the year, planting in late spring or at the inception of the rainy
season appears to be the most desirable field planting period.
The high moisture requirements essential for good lychee growth
demand that adequate irrigation facilities be provided. At no
time should the young, growing tree be permitted to suffer
from lack of soi moisture.
After planting; the maintenance of a heavy mulch about each
tree is advised.
Partial shading and, provision for wind protection of the
young field-planted tre s are recommended. Cheesecloth or 50
percent shade boxes or tripods are suitable for this purpose.
In exposed locations where str ~hg winds are likely to prevail
it is advisable to provide windbreak plantings. Groff (5) speaks
of the lychee in China.as being able to withstand typhoon winds
of 75 to 100 miles per hour aid sonetimes of even greater inten-
sity with little branch damage experienced, yet he points out
the need for wind protection to prevent foliar damage and achieve
optimum growth.
Besides the use of windbreak trees, the maintenance of a cover
crop on sandy soils will help prevent the sandblasting of the bark
and the foliage that occurs with the incidence of high winds.
In the event of hurricanes, major damage to young field
plantings (trees up to three years of age) can be avoided by
wrapping the trees securely with burlap and twine for the
duration of the storm.
Cultivation of the soil to any depth should be avoided, as the
lychee is a shallow-rooted plant.

The Lychee in Florida

Pruning
Pruning is not considered to be of much importance in the
successful culture of the lychee. Some pruning can be advan-
tageous in providing a good framework for the young tree.
The customary procedure in the harvesting of the fruit in
China is to break off many of the twigs and branchlets along
with the fruit. This is recognized as a form of pruning and
believed to be helpful in the production of new shoots which will
be the bearing shoots of the succeeding crop.
In Burma (8) the pruning of branches is recommended where
crowding occurs. It is also reported from India that a temporary
rejuvenation of old trees may be had through the heavy pruning
of such trees, causing them to produce sizable fruits once again
for several years subsequent to the severe pruning.

Fruit Yields, Harvesting and Marketing

Fruit Yields.-Data concerning annual yields of the lychee in
Florida are scant. The lack of sufficient bearing orchard or
grove plantings in Florida makes it extremely difficult to arrive
at valid estimates of expected yields. The common practice of
estimating potential orchard yields on the basis of the crop of
one tree in one year can be extremely misleading. The degree
of success of lychee orchardry in large measure will be deter-
mined by the average annual yields of marketable fruit produced
in orchard plantings over a period of years.
While air-layered trees may produce fruit before they are
four to five years old, yields obtained from these young trees
are small.
Groff (4) states that in China the air-layered trees are not
in their prime until from 20 to 40 years old and that, if provided
adequate cultural care, they may continue bearing good crops for
more than a century.
Average annual yields for mature lychee trees have been
reported as follows: In India, 164 to 324 pounds; Queensland
(15) and Hawaii, 200 to 300 pounds; and South Africa, 250
pounds (for well cared for trees over 30 years old). Individual
mature trees in China have been reported to have yielded over
1,000 pounds in one crop.
A 24-year-old tree at Auburndale, Florida, is recorded as
having yielded about 400 pounds of fruit during 1948, while 155
pounds was harvested from a 10-year-old tree at Laurel.

The Lychee in Florida

Pruning
Pruning is not considered to be of much importance in the
successful culture of the lychee. Some pruning can be advan-
tageous in providing a good framework for the young tree.
The customary procedure in the harvesting of the fruit in
China is to break off many of the twigs and branchlets along
with the fruit. This is recognized as a form of pruning and
believed to be helpful in the production of new shoots which will
be the bearing shoots of the succeeding crop.
In Burma (8) the pruning of branches is recommended where
crowding occurs. It is also reported from India that a temporary
rejuvenation of old trees may be had through the heavy pruning
of such trees, causing them to produce sizable fruits once again
for several years subsequent to the severe pruning.

Fruit Yields, Harvesting and Marketing

Fruit Yields.-Data concerning annual yields of the lychee in
Florida are scant. The lack of sufficient bearing orchard or
grove plantings in Florida makes it extremely difficult to arrive
at valid estimates of expected yields. The common practice of
estimating potential orchard yields on the basis of the crop of
one tree in one year can be extremely misleading. The degree
of success of lychee orchardry in large measure will be deter-
mined by the average annual yields of marketable fruit produced
in orchard plantings over a period of years.
While air-layered trees may produce fruit before they are
four to five years old, yields obtained from these young trees
are small.
Groff (4) states that in China the air-layered trees are not
in their prime until from 20 to 40 years old and that, if provided
adequate cultural care, they may continue bearing good crops for
more than a century.
Average annual yields for mature lychee trees have been
reported as follows: In India, 164 to 324 pounds; Queensland
(15) and Hawaii, 200 to 300 pounds; and South Africa, 250
pounds (for well cared for trees over 30 years old). Individual
mature trees in China have been reported to have yielded over
1,000 pounds in one crop.
A 24-year-old tree at Auburndale, Florida, is recorded as
having yielded about 400 pounds of fruit during 1948, while 155
pounds was harvested from a 10-year-old tree at Laurel.

Florida Agricultural Experiment Station

On Dade County oolitic limestone soils, mature Brewster trees
have been rather erratic in their fruit production. Of three
14-year-old trees growing at the Sub-Tropical Experiment Station
at Homestead, only one has produced any appreciable amount
of fruit to date. At 12 years of age a yield of 16 pounds was
harvested, while one of 19 pounds was obtained during the four-
teenth year.
Harvesting.-The fruit of the Brewster normally ripens dur-
ing June or early July. As all fruits do not ripen simultaneously,
several pickings should be made to avoid harvesting immature
fruit. In South Africa the recommended harvesting procedure
is to spot pick the fruit every few days during the three- to
four-week period the fruits mature on the tree.
The development of the full color of the shell of the fruit and
its final swelling, which is indicated by the extension of the
scale-like sections, denotes when the fruit is sufficiently ripe to
harvest.
The whole fruiting panicle or cluster is broken off the tree in
harvesting (cover photograph). If individual fruits are picked
they should be picked with a portion of the panicle branch at-
tached. Attempts to remove the fruit without the stalk attached
will usually result in rupturing the pericarp or shell and con-
sequent rapid spoilage of fruit.
The fruit should be free of dew at the time of harvest; other-
wise rapid discoloration of the shell may occur.
In picking the fruit and in handling it, care should be taken to
avoid bruising and crushing. Field containers should not be per-
mitted to be filled over 10 inches deep; otherwise the bottom
fruits may be crushed.
Marketing.-Due to the limited lychee fruit production to date
in Florida, well-defined marketing procedures for the fresh fruits
have not been established to conform with those of the more
commonly produced fruits in Florida. The small amount of
fruit offered for sale up to now still places the lychee in the rare
fruit category.
A ready market for this fruit, which required no advance
salesmanship or promotion, was found in the large cities contain-
ing a sizeable population of Chinese people, who were willing to
pay premium prices in order to obtain these fruits which are
considered by them to be the choicest of all their native fruits.
Retail prices of about $1.50 a pound have been obtained. Where

The Lychee in Florida

fruit has been purchased in bulk from the grower, the estimated
average price is reported to be about 75 cents a pound.
Much of the fruit is shipped in containers direct to the con-
sumer or wholesaled in packages containing one pound or less.
The lychee fruit can be quick frozen and stored for a long
period. It retains its fresh fruit quality well when handled in
this manner.
While canning and drying lychees is practiced with large
amounts of the fruit produced in South China, the limited supply
of fruit produced in Florida will most likely continue to be
marketed exclusively as fresh fruit for years to come until the
supply is increased considerably.

Diseases and Insect Pests
Diseases.-The incidence of diseases of the lychee is reported
as rare in the important lychee growing areas.
Groff (4) does not list any fungus as causing any serious
injury to the lychee in South China, although lichens, algae and
some superficial molds are reported to occur on the trees and
foliage.
As yet no disease has been reported on lychee plants growing
in Florida attributable to a parasitic organism, although witches
broom has been noticed on a number of seedling trees in Home-
stead. A mildew has been observed on some of these witches
brooms. It is not known at present whether this fungus is in any
way responsible for this condition, whether the condition is
caused by a mite, or is due to improper nutritional balance.
Marloth (11) reports that in South Africa the greatest loss
from disease is that which occurs after harvesting the fruit.
These wastage rots are reputedly due to Rhizopus nigricans, a
species of Penicillium, a Pestalozzia and an undetermined yeast-
like organism, all of which thrive under warm and moist condi-
tions. Marloth recommends that the fruit from the time of
harvest until consumed should be kept dry, well ventilated and
cool. He also reports that preliminary trials were made where
the dusting of the harvested fruit during the packing with
spergon (an organic non-metallic fungicide, tetra-chloro-para-
benzo-quinone) reduced such wastage rot by half.
Insect Pests.-A number of insect pests are reported abroad as
causing damage to lychees, none of which has yet been identified
as attacking the trees growing in Florida.

Florida Agricultural Experiment Station

Several insects have been noted on trees in the Homestead
area. Although the incidence and extent of damage has been
rather insignificant, it cannot be assumed that insect damage
will remain negligible if more extensive plantings are made.
A red-spider infestation was noted which was readily con-
trolled with a wettable sulfur spray.
Wood-boring insects have been noted in dead wood of the
lychee.
Ambrosia beetles have been observed attacking young seedling
trees. These beetles bore into the woody stem and carry a fungus
or fungi which may girdle the cambium tissue of the stem or
branch, thus killing the portion of the plant above the girdled
area or the entire young seedling.
Leaf tiers also have been noticed upon lychee foliage, as well as
a shothole condition on young foliage caused by some unknown
insect. Some of the common plant bugs have been reported on
the lychee in Florida (5).
By far the most troublesome pests of the lychee reported to
date have been birds, squirrels and rats.
Col. Wm. R. Grove of Lychee Orchards at Laurel reports suc-
cessful control of fruit loss due to birds by the employment of
automatic carbide guns that discharge at regular intervals of
approximately one and a half minutes. In conjunction with the
carbide guns a shotgun is employed and occasionally fired so
that the birds are led to believe that each report is from the
shotgun.
Sheet metal guards about the tree trunks may prove effective
in curtailing fruit losses due to the depredations of rodents.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Appreciation is expressed to both G. W. Groff and Wm. R. Grove for
their review and criticisms of the manuscript.
Photographs for the cover and Figs. 1 and 2 were taken by J. J. Stein-
metz, while the photograph for Fig. 4 was taken by J. B. Pinkerton. These
photographs were donated by Wm. R. Grove.